March 24, 2020 3:41 am
UNDATED (AP) – The New England Patriots have dropped their longtime kicker and picked up a quarterback. The Patriots said goodbye to another longtime staple of their two-decade run of championships, releasing kicker and franchise leading scorer Stephen Gostkowski. The three-time Super Bowl champion has spent his entire 14-year career in New England. Gostkowski has long passed Adam Vinatieri as the Patriots’ leading scorer with 1,775 points. The 36-year-old Gostkowski started the first four games of 2019 but struggled, missing a career-high four extra points after not missing more than three in any of his previous 13 NFL seasons. He was placed on injured reserve in October and underwent season-ending hip surgery. Brian Hoyer is now in the running to become Tom Brady’s replacement after accepting a one-year contract with the New England Patriots. The 34-year-old twice served as Brady’s backup and will compete with Jarrett Stidham and Cody Kessler for the starting job. Hoyer played four games and had one start with Indianapolis last season, completing 54% of his passes for 372 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.
March 21, 2020 4:05 am
UNDATED (AP) – The head of USA Swimming is calling for a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. CEO Tim Hinchey has sent a letter to leadership at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee urging it to push for a 12-month delay. In his letter, Hinchey noted the unimaginable disruptions athletes have experienced during the coronavirus crisis. The committee didn’t immediately respond to the letter. But earlier Friday, its leaders said there was no rush to postpone the Olympics.
March 20, 2020 10:12 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 42-year-old quarterback who spent the first 20 years of his career with the New England Patriots announced he’s “starting a new football journey” in an Instagram post and thanked the Bucs for the opportunity. The deal is worth $30 million per season. The signing comes three days after Brady announced on social media that he would not return to New England, ending his historic run with the Patriots.
March 20, 2020 3:48 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Red Sox announced Thursday that left-hander Chris Sale would have Tommy John surgery. The operation would keep him out the entire 2020 baseball season if and when it resumes after the coronavirus pandemic. Other MLB teams will also take advantage of the downtime to treat players.San Francisco Giants right-hander Tyler Beede will undergo Tommy John elbow surgery. And Houston’s Justin Verlander underwent groin surgery.
March 19, 2020 3:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers turned the opening day of free agency into a family reunion for the Watt family. The team agreed to terms fullback Derek Watt on a three-year contract worth $9.75 million, luring him from the Los Angeles Chargers to Pittsburgh to join All-Pro younger brother T.J. Watt. T.J. Watt recorded 14 1/2 sacks from his spot at outside linebacker in 2019. Derek Watt said the opportunity to play with T.J. was too good of an opportunity to pass up. The Steelers also tendered offers to offensive lineman Matt Feiler and cornerback Mike Hilton. Both players are restricted free agents.
March 18, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Tom Brady says he’s thrown his final pass for the New England Patriots, and it appears he could be headed to Florida. The 42-year-old quarterback has posted on social media “my football journey will take place elsewhere.” The comments were the first to indicate he would leave the franchise he’s led to six Super Bowl titles, and the only professional football home he has had.
Brady’s representatives are in serious contract discussions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady isn’t the only decorated quarterback to leave the only NFL team for which he’s played: Longtime Chargers star Philip Rivers has agreed to a one-year contract with the Colts, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Rivers spent his first 16 NFL seasons with the Chargers and has set almost every major team record for quarterbacks since being taken first overall in the 2004 NFL draft. The eight-time Pro Bowl selection joins a team that went 7-9 with Jacoby Brissett under center and faded badly during the second half last season.
March 17, 2020 2:34 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are holding onto outside linebacker Bud Dupree. The team placed the franchise tag on Dupree just ahead of the NFL-mandated deadline for clubs to use the designation. The move means Dupree, who collected a career-high 11 1/2 sacks in 2019, could make around $16 million in 2020 if he signs the tag. That number would likely change if Dupree reaches an agreement with the Steelers on a long-term deal by July 15. Also, longtime Steelers offensive lineman Ramon Foster is retiring. The 11-year veteran made the announcement on Instagram.
March 16, 2020 3:44 am
The Titans are keeping the quarterback who led them within a victory of the Super Bowl, agreeing to a four-year, $118 million extension with Ryan Tannehill. The Titans went 7-3 over their final 10 regular-season games after Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariota (mar-ee-OH’-tah). Tannehill was 9-4 as a starter last season and led the NFL with a career-best 117.5 passer rating, the fourth-highest in NFL history and a franchise best. He threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions during the regular season after coming to Tennessee from the Dolphins.
March 16, 2020 3:40 am
UNDATED (AP) – The already-delayed professional sports seasons in North America could be on hiatus for significantly longer than first planned. New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday night seem to suggest that sports in this country could for all intents and purposes be gone until May, if not later. That’s twice as long as the 30-day shutdowns that the NBA, NHL and Major League Soccer decided to put into place last week. The league suspensions were in response to the global coronavirus pandemic that has already made a deep impact on the U.S. financial markets and has been blamed for at least 64 deaths in this country. Major League Baseball also was going with what essentially was a 30-day shutdown after canceling the rest of spring training and pushing back the start of regular season play for two weeks; Opening Day was to have been March 26.
March 15, 2020 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NCAA has canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments because of the spread of coronavirus. The decision came one day after the NCAA announced games that were scheduled to start next week would be played in mostly empty arenas. That plan was scrapped as every major American sports league put the brakes on their seasons due to concerns about the pandemic. The NCAA also canceled its championships in every winter and spring sport, including hockey, baseball and lacrosse. All remaining Division I conference basketball tournaments have been canceled. Moments away from tipoff at some arenas, and minutes apart, each Power Five conference canceled its remaining games. The Big East game between Creighton and St. John’s began at Madison Square Garden but was called off at halftime. Smaller conferences followed suit, shutting down their tournaments. Major League Baseball has delayed the start of its season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak. Opening day had been scheduled for March 26, and the decision announced by Commissioner Rob Manfred left open whether each team would still play 162 games. MLB also suspended the rest of its spring training schedule. The NHL has put its season on pause, effective immediately, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The move came one day after the NBA suspended its season following a positive test for COVID-19 by a Utah Jazz player. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the hope is to resume play later and still award the Stanley Cup. The NHL Players’ Association backed the decision, calling it “an appropriate course of action at this time.” The PGA has canceled the remainder of The Players Championship, along with three tournaments leading up to The Masters.
